


Comming Full Circle

by ShippingsandDeamons



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Difficult Home Life, Mpreg, Nanako's a dotting aunt, Origninal Characters, Teenage Parent, Teenage Pregnancy, Yu Narukami's dad, Yu Narukami's mom, Yu is not having fun, mental mealtdowns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-07-23 06:07:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20003545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShippingsandDeamons/pseuds/ShippingsandDeamons
Summary: Several Months after He left Inaba, Yu returns to the sleepy town, with his baby daughter in tow, to escape a stressful home life. As the clock turns, the secret he long ago buried before he left is in danger of being unearthed. The shadows once more dance as everyone has to ask themselves; "it the truth worth it?"





	1. Chapter 1

When he returned home from picking Usagi up from daycare, Yuu was mildly surprised to find his parents’ shoes already there. It was still a bit of a rarity for the elder Narukamis to be home before dinner- before him. His mother and father tended to work from early in the morning to very late at night. Resigning himself to a tense home, Yuu steeled himself and entered into the Narukami apartment, Usagi bouncing at his hip.

He was able to avoid confrontation a little longer by toeing into his room and shading his school blazer, as well as his daughter’s coat. Then settling his infant daughter into her babby carrier that would be slung across his back, to allow him to cook freely. When he was finished procrastinating, he steeled himself and marched on into the living room.

The open concept kitchen and dining room were both attached to the living room, meaning someone had to pass through the latter to get to either of the former rooms. His mother and father were both seated on the couch, doing their own respective things. His father was reading the evening paper, pages ruffling every so often as he turned a page of folded it to get a better look at an article. His mother was doing paper-work, papers shuffled into two neat and tidy piles of paper, her graying dark hair pilled into a semi-casual form of its usual bun. Both adults had their backs to him, and didn’t even so much as look up as he passed them.

Yuu breathed out a sigh of relief. He wasn’t in the mood to butt heads with his mother again.

Neither of his parents were very good at cooking, as they spent most of their time working and tended to buy meals from the store. Because he’d been left alone in the house for so long, having to become self-sufficient, Yuu had learned how to cook for himself (and others) very early on, as well as learn on his own how to keep the apartment clean and running. Now, that had become a safe haven of sorts; his parents rarely ever bothered him when he was cooking. It was the only time he was truly safe from his mother’s scorn.

The knife clacked against the cutting board with each slice, clack, clack, clack. Against his back, Usagi dozed restfully, oblivious to the worries of her parent. Soon the slab of beef had been cut into neat, perfectly sized cube and added to the simmering pot on the stove. Tonight’s dinner was beef stew with lots of fresh veggies.

At one point, the relationship between his parents (mother) hadn’t been so terse and trained as it was now. But after the reveal in June, the apartment had become something akin to a war zone. His mother was constantly chastising him and the two arguing very frequently. Though things had ‘cooled off’ a bit since Usagi’s arrival in October.

“It can’t really be helped, it wasn't easy for any of us.” He mused sadly.

All he wanted was for his mother to just accept the fact he’d messed up, and get over it. Usagi shifted in her sleep, cuddling her cheek closer to when it rested between his shoulder blades. His lips twitched into a small, soft smile. Yuu loved his daughter dearly, and with all his heart. Never once, even before she was born, had he resented her, or blamed her for his problems, however numerous they were. She was his precious daughter; practically his reason for living. At least mother seemed to tolerate her presence in the house.

He was pulled back into reality by the cooking timer’s chime. He clicked off the heat and removed the lid. The broth had turned the desired dark caramel brown, a savory aroma wafted up. Grabbing three bowls, he portioned out a serving of the stew along with some fluffy rice for all three of them, then retrieved the correct number of spoon and chopsticks. Ferring all of this over to the dining table with the use of a trey, he ducked out and hurried over to his room. Usagi would be fed after dinner, the young infant girl just barely over a month old.

He settled her into her crib, then returned to the dining room. His parents had already taken their seats and were waiting patiently for him. Dinner was the only meal they ate as a family. His parents were at well before he got up to make breakfast. The three ate in silence for several long minutes. Each of them kept their eyes down at their dinner, not even bothering with small talk. Five months now and it was still the same, he missed before when they’d all chat about their day. Finally, he noticed his father had stopped eating, spoon resting on the lip of his bowl.

“Yuu, your uncle Dojima and I had a talk about what happened yesterday,” His father started carefully.

He inwardly winced. Yesterday, he’d suffered a near-mental breakdown after a bad argument with his mother. The third break down in less than a month, and one of many in the last 4. He was aware his father was Keeping the Dojima house up to date on everything, after the June surprise. It wasn’t something he actively thought about, or even acknowledged most of the time.

Would you like to take Usagi and spend the winter in Inaba?”

It was a good thing he only just placed the bite of rice into his mouth, or else it might have gone down the wrong pipe. Yuu hadn’t been expecting such a question, despite how unsurprising it was. He was well aware both his Unkle Dojima and cousin Nanako were worried about him sense he was unable to hide ‘that’ any longer. His mother didn’t look at him the entire time, her attention focused on eating her stew. He wasn’t offended, the action no longer bothered him like it used to.

“The change of scenery could do you and Usagi some good, and He’s told me than Nanako is very eager to meet her baby ‘neice’.” His father continued.

With the proposition now on the table, his father resumed eating dinner.

The notion of returning to Inaba had never really crossed his mind. It wasn’t because he disliked the sleepy little town or it’s residence- fsr from it with all the good memories he had of the year he spent there and the dear friends he’d made. He knew why Dojima had brought it up; three mental break downs in such rapid succession were concerning, and with how home and school life was treating him nowadays, it was understandable that the man would worry about the mental health of his old charge. The old detective had become a pseudo-father of sorts during his stay, just as he’d become a big brother to the man’s daughter.

Should he go? All of his friends were still in Inaba, Rise too despite having returned to her life as Risetta. But ‘he’ was there too… And it wasn’t like they all didn’t know Inaba was where ‘it’ had happened. But Sans his relatives, no one there knew he was a parent now, or that the town was where Usagi had been made.

He’d managed to deflect the question thus far, but that was mostly because the forceful, demanding approaches his parents took made it easy to clam up. Dojima would without a doubt try to coax the answer from him instead of prying it from him like his mother. He was content living his life as a single parent, and letting ‘him’ live his life oblivious to the truth, but the adults in his family weren't of that mindset.

Dinner ended in silence, his father collected dirty dishes. With that silent dismissal, he returned to his room. Usagi was awake in her crib, wriggling her arms at her parent and making grabby hands at him. She was hungry and wanted food, now. Chuckling softly as his daughter’s assertive nature, he scooped her up into his arms so she could feed.

“Maybe, maybe it’s time I stopped running.”

When he returned to the living room, with a now fed Usagi, he looked at his father.

“I’ll go.”


	2. Chapter 2

“So, did you ask him? … He said yes? That’s good, I’ll make sure to have everything set up before he arrives.”

Dojima set the phone back into its cradle. Despite how late in the evening it was, he was glad his brother-in-law had called now instead of later. He hadn’t been sure that his nephew would actually be willing to come back over to Inaba – he was hoping the kid would do so- especially considering how the boy had inherited the Dojima problem of avoiding your problems. Both he and his mother needed time away from each other, for everyone’s sake. The tension between them was just too palpable at this point.

Nanako and Teddie would be ecstatic, at least. And the clean country air might be good for Usagi.

Ryotaro Dojima; one of the Inaba PD’s oldest, most dedicated detectives on the force, diligent in how work and hard-working to a fault. Once he was given a case, he pursued it until it was solved. The same could not be said about his parenting skills. He loved his daughter Nanako with all his heart- he really did, but after the violent death of his wife, he’d become obsessed with catching the bastard. And his innocent daughter had suffered, losing not only a mother, but practically losing a father as well. The then 7-year-old girl had enured this near abandonment with a smile. In his absence, she had learned to be independent and reliable, something that should have happened much later in her young life. Now, thanks to his nephew’s intervention, he wasn’t as much of a workaholic, and was actually home in the evenings most of the time.

It was because of his nephew that he finally stopped running away, the boy had not only acted as a catalyst, but had given him the pushes he needed. It was thanks to Yuu that this dysfunctional family was back on track. The boy had become practically a son to the elder Dojima, and an older brother to the younger. So, upon hearing about the situation over at the Narukami residence, and how tense the relationship between his elder sister and her son had become, he knew he needed to intervene somehow. Yuu had endured much more than Nanako in the neglect department. Hearing about the close succession of meld downs was the final nail in the proverbial coffin. He and his ‘big’ sister weren’t that close, she took after their parents far too much for his tastes. He was worried that if Yuu spent any more time at home, the boy would go catatonic.

Nanako and Kuma were seated at opposite ends of the living room table, both pairs of eyes glued to the TV screen, more specifically the quiz show on it. After Yuu returned home last March, the young blond boy had started spending most of his time with Nanako, when he wasn’t working with the Hanamura kid over at Junes. At first, he was wary of the strange boy who spent so much time around his daughter, how could he not? Despite being a friend of Yuu’s, he had some odd habits and often flirted with girls. He’d relaxed after determining that the odd boy was no danger to his daughter.

“Hey, Nanako, Kuma, I’ve got some good news,” He said, joining them.

The pair turned their attention to him so fast he was surprised he didn’t hear their necks poping.

“I just got a call from you Uncle, Yuu’s agreed to come over and spend the winter here.”

He watched his daughter’s face light up with joy and delight, Kuma’s face mirroring those same emotions. Their smiles were practically face splitting.

“Is Nii-san brining Usagi?” “Yeah, is sensei bringing Usagi-chan.

He smiled softly. After seeing pictures of the youngest Narukami, the two had quickly become enamored with her. Not that he blamed them, she was an adorable baby. Nanako even had a picture of the parent and child up on her desk, right next to the photo of her mother. Nanako acted every bit the new aunt who wanted nothing more than to spoil her niece rotten. Kuma was also very eager to meet the new addition to the family as well. The idea of two people making life, and just the concept of babies, was still very new to the boy. It was honestly very adorable to watch.

“They’ll be arriving at the start of December, a few days from now.” He explained.

“Then we should hurry up and by supplies, Usagi-chan needs stuff like diapers and wipes.” Nanako said. “Dad, do you know if we need anything else.”

“Yuu’s drinking clothes and some toys with him, maybe just pick out a cradle.”

Usagi had been born on the 31st of October. That meant Usagi had been conceived either in January, or early February. The little girl could only have been conceived in Inaba, meaning her father was a resident of the town. It was the only answer, considering that the girl hadn’t been an early birth. He had a few ideas of what had happened, but it was just speculation. Yuu had been extremely tight-lipped about the whole endeavor regarding his child’s father. It was this secrecy, as well as the fact her boy had become a teen parent in general, that caused mother and son to butt heads so much. The harder his sister pushed for the truth, the tighter the boy clammed up.

His primary objective while Yuu was in his care would be to help the boy relax and calm down from the stress of his home life back in the city. And keep him from going catatonic. Something he would certainly try to do, but was ready to fail at, was coax the truth about Usagi’s parentage out of the boy. If Yuu didn’t definitively know who, that was alright. Why Yuu was being so secretive anyway?

“Kid, just what are you trying to hide? Is it fear, or do you just not want to deal with it?”

Dojima wasn’t sure how to proceed. His problems when he was Yuu’s age were very different from the troubles the kid was going through now. Back then, it was just a matter of rebelling agast mom and dad’s influence while keeping his head on right and his wits about him (while somehow keeping his grades decent). His sister hadn’t rebelled, had given in to the whims of their parents and let herself be molded into the perfect young girl they wanted her to be.

Was she regretting that now? Or did she even care she was acting just as their mother would have?

At least she’d calmed down a bit after marring, and Narukami was a good man. He was the one keeping his wife and son from ging at each other’s throats. Early the next morning he got a call confirming the day Yuu would be arriving back in Inaba, and after talking a bit, was able to come up with a –short- list of things they’d need to buy before then. The next few days would be spent child-proofing the house and moving Yuu’s boxes up to his room.


	3. Chapter 3

The bulk of the evening was spent hunting down and packing anything and everything he’d need to spend the winter in Inaba comfortable. Such as hunting down his winter cloths, making sure he had all of Usagi’s fluffy blankets and toys. They evening before had been spent packing boxes to be shipped over to Inaba, this packing was for the train ride tomorrow. He packed only a few extra diapers into Usagi’s essentials bag; figuring that Nanako and Kuma had already done essential shopping for such things. When he was finally satisfied with how everything was packed for the trip tomorrow, Yuu stood up and stretched out his slightly stiff back.

Packing had gone smoothly, thanks in part to his father’s kind offer to watch Usagi while he gathered everything. He was all ready for tomorrow. Despite the fact that their departure, which fell on a Wednesday, made the long forgotten honor student in him want to curl up and cry, Yuu was ecstatic to not be forced to spend longer than necessary in the city. After the ‘big’ reveal in June, home was a war zone and school was hell. The hope was that Inaba would be his much-needed break from all the stress.

He reached to close his closet, but paused when his eyes fell upon a partly forgotten relic from the past. Yuu brushed his fingers lightly down the material of his old Yasogami high uniform. He wondered if it still fit him, after everything that had happened. He wouldn’t be attending Yasogami during his stay; the plan wasn’t to have him transfer schools, instead he would receive school work by mail. Still, the uniform reminded him of the better times a year ago, time spent with people he could actually call friends.

Seeing his old uniform finally made it sink in that yes, he would be seeing everyone again. No more phone calls and video chats, he would finally be able to see everyone face to face. It also reminded him that noon, Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, and he would soon be high school seniors. Talk about time flying out the window.

He exited his musings and closed the closet door. It had been harder to keep in touch with everyone, what with their busy schedules and the time difference between Inaba and the city. Though, that had also worked in his favor; sans Kuma, no one in the old investigation team knew he’d had a daughter. Kuma practically lived with the Dojima’s at this point, so it was a given he knew, but had promised to keep it to himself. Kuma and Nanako had taken well to the information.

But how would the others react? Despite what some would believe, every member of the IT was smart and sharp. Heck, Naoto was a born and raised detective. It was unlikely they wouldn’t put the few pieces together, not when he had no intention of outright lying to any of them. The question was, would they be willing to just let sleeping dogs lie? He was confident he’d be able to keep his mouth shut around Dojima, but if his friends started asking, if ‘he’ started asking, he wasn’t so sure about that.

“All I want to do is keep ‘him’ from being inconvenienced by a simple error in judgment, is that too much to ask?” He wondered.

To his mother, that was akin to asking her to pull the moon from the night sky with her bare hands. He believed that deep down it was just her way of showing her concern, given the upbringing she’d received from her parents. But still, it was his mistake, and reminding of that wasn’t going to make it suddenly no longer be the truth.

Not linking the directions his thoughts were going, Yuu decided to take a bath. The steam would clear his head. Walking towards the living room, he smiled at the sight of Usagi bouncing up and down in her grandfather’s arms. Her squeals of delight lifted his mood a little instantly. Occasionally his mother would peer over her thick wad of papers – something work related as always- with a soft glint in her eyes. Mother and son might butt heads, but she had been very good to her granddaughter. She turned her attention back to her work when she noticed him approaching.

“I’m going to be taking a bath.” He said softly.

His father nodded and returned Usagi to his arms. Usagi snuggled close, giving him a sleepy smile as she lightly dozed in his arms. Her hair and eye color might be from him, but she looked so much like her father. The doctor had explained to him prior to her birth the newborns up until about their 1st year or so looked like their fathers, it was because of some odd biological adaption to help ensure their survival, but just hearing about it hadn’t prepared him. It was a good thing that she was still so young, it meant her features were round and pudgy.

Cradling the barely 2 month old close to his chest, he started preparing the bath. He held his free hand under the water flow, and used the knobs to adjust the temperature to something perfect for Usagi. When the temperature was just right, he placed in the stopper and let the tub fill up. He stripped his own clothes off first before easing Usagi out of her pink onesie. He shut off the water when the tub was adequately full, and stepped inside.

The warm water and steam felt heavenly against his skin. He’d missed soaking in a tub like this, but wasn’t able to until the stapled had been removed. His stomach still hurt, but that was to be expected considering he’d had the surgery only a few months ago. Leaning against the back of the tub, he was prepared to just sit there and bask in the warmth for a little bit. Unfortunately, Usagi had other ideas. Waking up from her nap, she began pawing at his chest with her tiny hands in an attempt to reach a certain part of his anatomy, forcing him to nudge them away.

“Didn’t I just feed you less than an hour ago, my mischievous little bunny?” he asked with a chuckle.

His daughter simply looked up at him with wide eyes and made a second go for seconds. Waving a finger past her lips, she did try and nibble on the digit, an early indication that she was in fact hungry. Humming slightly, he raised her up so she could feed. He wasn’t empty, or anywhere close to so, but he was attempting to get her onto a regular feeding schedule, the key word was attempt. She refused to cooperate. It was a good thing his appetite was still strong, other wise he wouldn’t be able to keep up with her glutinous appetite.

Kuma scrutinized over the two potatoes he held, one in each hand, before placing them both back down. Nana-chan had sent him off to get ingredients for tomorrow’s dinner, a homecoming meal for Sensei and Usagi-chan, but he had no idea what to get. His only cooking experience was helping Nana-chan or Yosuke’s mom cook, and that consisted of just following their directions. Sensei would be the one cooking, he was the one with the skills to do so, and the blond wanted very much to provide him with the means of doing just that. He began inspecting carrots, prodding them with a pointer finger.

“Kuma? What are you doing?” A familiar feminine voice asked.

Turning his head to the left, he spotted Yukiko heading towards him. The young manager in training was dressed in her school uniform, and had a basket over one arm.

“Hey’a Yukiko!” He replied cheerfully. “Nana-chan asked me to hunt down ingredient for tomorrow’s dinner, but I’m not sure what Sensei would want to make. Hmm, maybe something that’s good for nursing mothers?”

“Wait, Yuu’s coming to Inaba tomorrow?” She asked, and then registered the rest of what Kuma had said. “What’s this about nursing mothers?”

“Oh, that’s right, the rest of you guys don’t know.” Kuma mused. “Sensei’s brining Usagi-chan with him, she’s still nursing, Dojima-san hasn’t explained what that means yet, ‘cause she’s only a few months old.”

Not all of what the not-human boy was saying made sense to her, but from what she gathered, it sounded like Yuu was coming back to Inaba with his baby sister, and thus likely his mother at least. Working at the Amagi inn meant Yukiko had worked with several people of many walks of life, but she’d never encounter a breast feeding mother before.

“Well, I might not know exactly what’s goof for a feeding mother, but I suppose something with lost of nutrients, but is still easy to digest would be good. But it also depends on what Yuu wants to make.” Yukiko recommended. “Also, is Nanako-chan here with you?”

Kuma nodded. “Yep, Nana-chan’s getting diapers!” He beamed. “And thanks, that helped a lot.

Yukiko watched Kuma gab a little of everything from the fresh produce sections before running off with a stuffed basket to let Nanako know he was done shopping. The ebony haired young woman fished out her phone from her pocket and began texting Chie about her discovery, her own shopping almost forgotten.


	4. Chapter 4

It was interesting how the same stimuli could affect two different people so radically differently. Usagi found the jousting of the train to be soothing and therapeutic; nodding off soon into the tip, waking up only when she was hungry. The same couldn’t be said of her ‘mother’. Yuu found that the jousting of the train car made his incision flare up with pain- a quick peek at the wound itself thankfully showed it wasn’t doing more than just being painful. And unfortunately, because Usagi was still solely bread-fed at the moment, his options to pain relief were limited. At least the pain wasn’t too bad; it was certainly minor compared to the first time he woke up post-surgery. 

He managed by looking out the window and focusing on the country side as it zipped by; the blues and greens and browns all melding together almost kaleidoscope-like. The train was mostly empty, their own car was empty. Understandable; it was a Wednesday, not too many people made long distance trips like theirs in the middle of the work week. It was nice, being just the two of them, alone. He didn’t have to worry about disturbing other passengers when Usagi got fussy and started crying, nor did he have to move to the bathroom to feed her.

He shifted her position, moving her from his left shoulder over to the right, and leaned sideways, pressing his freed shoulder up against the glass. The window felt cool up against his forehead. In a few short hours, he’d be back in Inaba; back where everything started. None of his friends would be the same people they were when he’d last seen them in March, not that he was the same person from back then either.

How would the sleepy town take to a teen parent arriving? He knew gossip traveled fast, there was little else to do besides hang out with friends, loiter around Junes, or work. Inaba hadn’t been too bad, but he knew how harsh and unforgiving people could be. The people back home had wasted little time in tearing into him after it got out he was having Usagi, teachers and students alike scolding and chastising him for his fall from grace.

And how would his friends react? He wholeheartedly believed that they at least wouldn’t shun him over the error of his ways; they all cared about each other too much. But the IT members were sharp- all of them – and it wouldn’t take them long to piece together why he was here, and the truth behind Usagi. All he could do was pray silently that they didn’t pursue the mater any further than that. He could lie to them, cover his tracks that way, but he refused to do that. They deserved honesty.

“Yuu-kun’s coming back to Inaba soon, sometime today.” Yukiko announced.   
She watched with hooded amusements as everyone reacted with their own personal flavor of surprise and joy. Naoto remained a stoic as ever, but the corner of her lips twitched in that small way that meant she was happy. Yosuke almost choked on his drink, then looked at her bewildered. Chie rocked back in her seat and pumped up her fists into the air ‘whoot! Our leader returns!” Kanji raised an eyebrow, but continued knitting silently, next to him Rise grinned from ear to ear.

“Seriously?! Where’d you hear that?” Yosuke sputtered, looking the most hopeful of them all. He’d been the closest to Yuu, and the saddest to see their friend and leader leave.

“I heard it from Kuma yesterday when I was out shopping,” She explained coyly. “and get this, he isn’t coming alone this time. It sounds like the entire Narukami family’s coming over!”

Naoto raised an eyebrow, skeptical. “And what makes you say that? Did Kuma tell you that?” The young detective asked.

“No, but he did let a few things slip. Like this; Usagi, a still breast feeding infant, is coming with. He was trying to decide what would be a good dinner for someone who’s still nursing.” Yukiko explained.

The myriad of shocked faces on everyone sans Naoto was priceless; she almost fished out her phone to snap a picture. Kanji’s knitting needles stopped as a dark blush painted his cheeks. Most likely he was thinking of designs for cute baby clothes. 

“That is a logical conclusion to make, given the information at hand,” Naoto conceded. “She’d likely Senpai’s baby sister. Though it is odd they’d be making the commute here while she’s still so young.”

“Maybe, but I don’t care. I can’t wait to see Yuu again!” Chie cheered. “I wonder if they’d let me hold her…”

Yosuke was looking off in some direction, likely lost in thought. The tip of his finger traced the rim of his soft drink slowly. 

“I wonder if they’d let me get her measurements.” Kanji murmured.

Naoto shot the bleached haired boy an amused smirk.

“Hnn, well, let’s stop by Dojima-san’s place this evening and say hi, I think he’d like that.” Yosuke proposed. They all voiced their own agreements to this plan.

“I wonder if she’ll be old enough to take into the Inn’s bath.” Yukiko wondered.

She’d promised Nanako that the next time Yuu was in town, she’d make reservations to have them all over at the Amagi inn again. Well, even if Usagi was too young to be in the hot springs, that didn’t mean Yuu couldn’t bring her alone. They’d just have to work out a rotation so everyone could enjoy the hot springs.

It was close to sunset when the train finally arrived at the Yasogami terminal. Slinging Usagi’s day pack over his free shoulder, he grabbed his suitcase and exited over to the YasoInaba station. Usagi continued to snore softly from her place securely cuddled to his chest. Making his way towards the station’s front steps, Yuu took in a deep breath. It was nice to be in Inaba again.

“Over here!” A familiar slightly gravelly voice called.

Smiling, he turned to see Dojima waving, Nanako and Kuma in tow. He jogged over to greet them.

“Sensei!” They blond boy cheered as he and Nanako crowded around him.

One look at the slumbering infant in his arms had the young pair started melting. Nanako was standing on her toes to get the best look she could.

“She’s so cute Nii-san, and little.” Nanako cooed.

“Yeah, and she looks so much like her mom, too.” Kuma agreed.

“Heh, I’ve heard that, though the doctor said her face is supposed to look most like her dad,” He replied. “So then, that’s for dinner?”

Nanako and Kuma shared a smile.

“We decided to let you cook, so we got the ingredients for you to make anything you want.” Kuma answered.

“Yeah, Dad told us you really like to cook, that it’s relaxing for you.” Nanako added.

Yuu felt a lightness in his chest he hadn’t felt in several months. He hadn’t been expecting such thoughtfulness, even if it was Nanako’s MO at this point. Dojima loaded the suitcase and pack into the trunk, then the 5 of them piled into Dojima’s car. 

“Do, how was the tip over? You both do alright?” Dojima asked as he pulled out of the station’s parking lot.

Yuu shrugged. “Usagi really liked it, but the jousting just made my incision hurt.” He replied honestly.

Dojima grimaced. “Sorry, I should have figured 5 weeks wasn’t enough time.”

“Its fine, the pain was tolerable, and I’m glad I’m here now. I should be fine by the time I need to make the return trip.” He replied.

“”Heh, thanks. So, how’s the gremlin doing?” Dojima asked.

Yuu chuckled. “As happy and healthy as an infant nearing 8 weeks can be. Sometimes I’m worried my body won’t be able to keep up with her demands for milk, she’s always demanding I feed her every other hour.”

“Do all babied eat a lot?” Kuma asked.

“I’m not sure about other babies, but Usagi certainly does.” He responded humorously.

Though, the joking aside, he was really glad to be seeing her eat so much. She’d been just barely 5 pounds at birth. She hadn’t been underweight, but she’d been close, the hospital staff had been worried about other health complications. Thankfully, she’d avoided anything like that, and had gained several ounces in her first week of life.

“But, I’m glad she is, it means I don’t have to worry about her not eating enough.”

In response, Usagi yawned.

When they arrived at the Dojima residence, the detective’s car was in its place in the driveway. Either he’d already picked up Yuu from the station, or would be doing that later. None of them had plans to stay very long, on account of their busy day to day lives, so if their friend wasn’t there yet, it wasn’t a problem. This visit was just top figure out when he was returning.

Yosuke nudged the doorbell, the ends of his nerves a little frazzled. There was silence for a little bit, then the tell tale thumping for someone coming to answer the door. It was Nanako’s smiling face that greeted them.

“Hi everyone!” She chirped cheerfully.

“Hey Nanako-chan,” Chie said. “We came to see if Yuu was here yet.”

“Oh, nii-san? He’s here.” Nanako replied. “We just picked him up from the station, do you wanna come in and say hi?”

“Yes!” Yosuke blurted, blushed, then regained composure. “I mean, yeah, we do.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Nanako muttered, expression darkening a tad. “We didn’t get enough ingredients from Junes to make dinner for everyone.”

“None of us are staying for diner,” Kanji interjected. “We only came ‘ta see if Senpai was back, and maybe talk with him for a little bit.”

Nanako brightened up. “Okay!”

The young girl led them into the common room comprised of the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Kuma was sprawled across the low sitting table in the living room, cheek pressed against the wood. Dojima was sitting at the actual dining table, the evening paper in hand, an unlit cigarette in his mouth as usual.

The only other people in the room were Yuu, in the kitchen preparing dinner. On his back was a baby carrier, and strapped to his back was an infant girl with silver hair and storm cloud grey eyes, just like Yuu’s. Her cheek was resting between his shoulder blades, and there was a pacifier in her mouth. She regarded them all with a sleepy expression.

“Nii-san, you friends are here!” Nanako called, getting the older boy’s attention.

The rhythmic tapping of the chopping board stopped as the silver haired teen leaned back to see around the fridge, his eyes ever so slightly wide.

“The baby on his back is Usagi Narukami, Nii-san’s baby daughter!” Nanako explained.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth draws closer, and the shadows once forgotten beguine to stir.

“Daughter? Usagi is… Yuu’s daughter?!” Yukiko exclaimed, giving a voice to the thought running through all of their minds in one form or another.

The similarities were there, Yuu’s silvery hair and grey eyes, even the girl’s semi-blank, sleepy expression seemed akin to Yuu’s resting poker face. The youth in question continued to stare back at them in surprise, fidgeting with the chopping knife in his hands a little.

“…Maybe I don’t need to take measurements after all, I can tell just how tiny she is from look ‘in at her.” Kanji blurted, breaking the tension.

Rolling with Kanji’s ice breaker, Rise waltzed up to Usagi and began cooing. “Waa, aren’t you just the cutest little thing~! How old is she Senpai?”

Smiling as little in relief, Naoto didn’t miss the slight sag of his shoulders. “About 8 weeks now.”

Naoto pursed her lips in thought. 8 weeks meant her birth date was near the end of October. Nanako just stated that Usagi was his daughter, not his sister, but that time frame brought up several curious questions. Out of the corner of her eye, Dojima-san gave her a sympathetic look, catching on to her line of thinking. So the elder detective had the same questions she did.

“8 weeks?!” Chie cried. “That’s so young! When the hell was she born?!”

“October 31st, Halloween,” He replied. “Are you all staying for dinner?”

“Hu? Oh, no,” Yosuke said, finally finding his voice. “We just heard that you were coming back to Inaba, and wanted to see if you were here yet.”

The apprehensive smile on Yuu’s face softened into a sweet, albeit strained one. The smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Well thanks. It was greet to see you all again, we’ll catch up more tomorrow.”

“Yeah partner, see you after school.”

“Sorry for the intrusion Senpai, see you tomorrow.”

Dinner was finished 30 minutes after his friends had left. Usagi, as always, would be fed her dinner after the adults had theirs. He managed to settle down onto the ground without much protest from his recovering would, the incision mostly calmed down from the hellish train ride over, but getting up would be it’s own challenge. Usagi was nestled into his lap, cradled by a mix of folded legs and an arm.

“This is really good Nii-san!” Nanako said, taking another big bite.

“Maybe we should cut back on the Junes stuff and just let you do all the cooking while you’re here.” Dojima agreed, chuckling.

“I, wouldn’t mind that.” He replied.

Cooking was a form of therapy from him; a way to relax and destress himself. Before coming to Inaba, it was a means to relieve the loneliness that came with having parents who were absent from most of his life. After the reveal in June, it had become a means to dealing with the stress and pain of his life, between a stressful home life and a harsh school life.

Here in Inaba, cooking had no longer become a vital chore to maintain his sanity, but it still brought him comfort. Something familiar and comforting that brought him happiness. Cooking for others always brought him joy, it was something about seeing others enjoy what he’d made that lifted up his spirits, no matter how down and gloomy they’d been.

He was certainly going to need the solace this time around.

He’d seen the thoughtful expression on Naoto’s face as she’d processed what little information about Usagi he’d given. Had seen how she’d mulled over his daughter’s birth date, and noticed the obvious problem in the timeline. If he was Usagi’s father. Right now, the former IT was operating under that assumption, but not for very long. Especially with Naoto leading the questioning, they would soon come to realize the truth, something Kuma and the Dojima’s already knew.

He could have lied then, given a different birth date, of a different age, and Dojima wouldn’t have called him out on it, not then at least. But the though of lying to his friends left a rancid, mystery food X flavored taste in his mouth. They would have discovered the truth eventually, regardless if he’d fed them a lie then or not.

For now, he’d deflect was questions he could, and resist caving in for as long as possible. When the finally realized the truth to his relation with Usagi, and stated pursuing the line of questioning his mother had been hounding him about for the last several months, he’d hope his lips would remain tight and sealed.

Who was Usagi’s actual father? It was a question his mother had asked an uncountable number of times, and one he’d never answered. All he wanted to do was leave ‘him’ out of it, and take that truth to the grave. All Yuu wanted was for ‘him’ to live a normal life, something that was impossible if ‘he’ learned he was a father. It didn’t mater if sometimes he’d long to tell ‘him’ the truth, ‘he’ would never care about him that way.

But that was fine.

He was the first to finish dinner, had sent the meal so lost in through he didn’t realize he was done until he’d bitten down on an empty fork, and stared down at an empty plate. Setting the fork down, he secured Usagi in one arm, and propped the other hand on the table, then attempted to stand. Emphasis on attempt. Still recovering from the C-section, it was difficult to get his legs underneath him to stand up. The tenderness left over from the train ride was not doing him any favors.

After a few failed attempts, Dojima noticed his struggling.

“Here, grab my hand.” Dojima ordered.

Taking the older man’s hand, he was pulled up to his feet.

“Thanks…”

“It’s fine, guess I’ll have to keep the dining table clean for now.”

Nodding at the man, he took his leave up to his room. He was a bit bashful about feeding Usagi around others, a nervousness many breast feeding mothers, new ones especially, shared. It was why he fed Usagi in the isolation of his room, or in a place where he’d have privacy for a little bit. As he padded up the stairs, Usagi began pawing at his shirt, informing him that she was hungry and wanted to feed.

The fool had finally returned. The 0 that ever 1 started from, he had finally returned to Inaba, after almost a year away. The development was unexpected, but not unplanned for. All this entailed was that the boy was closer, easier to grab when the time came to set the plan in motion. The boy had been rejecting, but not outright denying his true self and emotions, suppressing them so much that a labyrinth was guarantied the moment he was pulled into the cognitive world. 

“The child is still so young, I will need to be cautious had I advance,”

The child of a wild card was a precious thing indeed; one would have a powerful persona. And with both of the child’s parents being persona wielders, she had such a power sleeping within her psyche as well. The infant was much too young to have her powers manifest, but that wasn’t needed. No, both mother and child were needed yes, but only the mother’s power of persona was needed, the child was just part of a means to the end.

With the wild card and his daughter close at hand, the plan could be advanced, even taking into consideration the caution required for an infant as young as she was. All that remained was to restore the fool’s persona back unto its full glory, and to do that, the magician would have to play a role. It had been a stroke of luck that the pair would couple together on that February day. Though they still couldn’t comprehend the importance of the 14th, humans were strange creatures with their many rituals.

“Soon I will be able to open the gate, then, not even god could stope me. Nothing will get in my way.”


	6. Chapter 6

It was refreshing to wake up and come downstairs to find people still in the house. Dojima was having one of his slow mornings; enjoying a cup of coffee as he munched on some toast and perused the morning paper. Nanako was still asleep, but would be getting up any moment now. Back home, morning were a lonely thing; his parents either working late into the night and thus sleeping in, or leaving at pre-dawn hours.

“Do, how are you and Usagi adjusting?” Dojima asked, eyes still on the paper.

“Honestly, it felt like a never left.” Yuu admitted, somewhat shyly. “Oh, and Usagi likes the crib you got, she slept like a log.”

Dojima chuckled at that. “Good, I want both of you to be comfortable here.”

A few minutes later, just as he was cracking the eggs into the pan, Nanako wandered into the living room, still not fully awake. Her hair was stuck up in all angles, and she was still in her sleeping clothes.

“G’morning dad, g’moring nii-san.” She murmured groggily, taking a seat.

“Heh, ‘morning kiddo, finally managed to not roll out of bed?” Dojima teased.

Nanako pouted at her father, and ran her hands over hands head to smooth down some of the stray stands. Father and daughter shared some more witty banter between them, Yuu smiling softly from his place in the kitchen as he watched quietly, before Dojima had to leave. Grabbing his briefcase, and placing a kiss on the crown of Nanako’s head, he was out the door.

Breakfast was a simple meal of toast, scrambled eggs, and fried potato slices. Nanako practically melted a she ate. When breakfast was devoured and dished placed in the sink to be cleaned, Nanako dashed to her room to get ready as Yuu pulled out her lunch. Backpack in hand, he passed her the lunch he’d prepared for her the night before and waved as she flew out the door.

“See you later, nii-san!”

“Yeah, see you after school.”

Alone in the house, sans a fussy Usagi, Yuu headed back up to his room to feed Usagi. When his daughter’s hunger was sated, and his shirt back in place, he grabbed the school work he’d been given for the rest of the week and placed it on his desk. Into her crib Usagi went so she could nap while he studied.

The late morning and early noon was spent doing school work. He understood the math formulas pretty well, and if something tripped him up, he’d review some examples in his text book until it made sense. He was an ace student, diligent and hard working, and even with the fuss Usagi’s arrival had caused, had maintained his place as the student with perfect marks. That hadn’t stopped the other tops students from verbally harassing him, of stopped his teachers from voicing their ‘disappointment’ in the fact their golden boy had become such a ‘delinquent’.

The only pause he took in his school work was to make lunch and feed Usagi. By the time 1:05 had rolled around, he’d finished the assignments planed both for that day and Friday. Tomorrow he’d finish Saturday’s work, and have both of those days free. Retrieving his daughter from her crib, Yuu walked back down stairs to see what was in the fridge. Quickly taking a mental inventory, he found most of the ingredients needed to make cream soup and ginger pork. Quickly thinking up a list of what he’d need, the silver haired student quickly jotted down a small list of the missing ingredients.

Readjusting Usagi’s carrier to fit across his front, Yuu made his way to Junes to do some quick shopping.

Some of the housewives gave him a curios glance, but never bothered with a second glance. It was partly reliving, despite being a student age male with an infant strapped to his front, no one there seemed to particularly care about how that looked. Perhaps they just assumed she was a relative of his he was taking care of, or they just didn’t give a damn about the kid with a baby.

It didn’t mater, either way he was able to peruse the produce section unmolested by anyone.

“Hey Yuu, is they you?”

He snorted at the unintentional pun, and spied the speaker with amusement. He watched as Kou cut across the produce section to run up with him. The other boy hadn’t changed much, if at all, in the over half year he’d been absent from the town.  
“Hello Kou, nice to see you too.” He greeted the athlete.

“It’s been a while.” Kou agreed. “When did you come back to Inaba? I didn’t see you at all at school.” Kou’s eyes then drifted to the silver haired bundle slung across his chest. “Oh, who’s this?”

“Usagi…” Yuu replied, unsure about how to proceed for a moment, then settled on ‘to hell with it’. “She’s my daughter.”

Kou blinked at him blankly, taking a moment to compute his words. Then, surprisingly, the basket ball player just shrugged. It was certainly a more laid back reaction that what even his friends have given him.

“I guess that answers some stuff, like why your back here.” Kou shrugged again. “Meh, guess your not a Yasogami student this time around, but feel free to join basketball practice some time, Daisuke and I’ll be waiting.”

With that offer on the table, Kou ran off with a small wave. That was, very liberating. With his classmates’’ reactions still stuck in his mouth like a chunked of rancid peanut butter, seeing Kou just shrug of the fact he was still in high school and was already a parent like that, it was something he hadn’t quite realized he needed to see.

Patting Usagi’s head gently, Yuu continued his light shopping before returning home. As he was putting things away for later, he received a text from Yosuke asking if he was willing to hang out by the river later. Replying with a quick ‘sure’, his mood felt lighter that his had been in a while.


	7. Chapter 7

When he arrived at Junes’ food court, Usagi was awake and alert, mumbling the syllables of words around her pacifier as she made grabby hands towards things around her that interested her. He was a bit early; no one else was seated at their usual table just yet.

“Yo, partner!” He heard Yosuke call.

The brunet ran towards him, sort of like a puppy who was bounding towards their favorite person. Yuu smiled at his friend, the brunet beamed at him. Yosuke was still in his work apron, indicating he was still on the clock, Usagi squealed in his arms and squirmed toward this newcomer. It was the status quo with his daughter; she was sleepy most of the time, but when she was awake she just had to be a part of everything. Yosuke chuckled at her display of energy and alertness, then bent down a bit so he at eye lever with her before making some funny faces.

Yuu had to bite his lip to keep from laughing along with his daughter; some of the ways Yosuke managed to contort and twist the muscles of his face were indeed hilarious. And it was a display for his daughter, only meant for the two of them. The brunet continued to humor the infant for a bit longer, but had to stop when he accidentally bit his tongue.

“Aww, ‘hat hurt.” He winced. 

Yuu snickered, using all his will power not to start laughing like a mad man. Usagi wriggled in his arms, cahcing and gurgling; demanding for more interesting stuff. 

“Well at least someone’s enjoying this.” Yosuke muttered, glaring at yuu.

“Sorry, sorry, but I can’t help it; you were just too funny!” You said, trying to suppress a Yukiko lever giggling fit. “Thanks, Usagi can be pretty high key when she’s fully awake.”

Yosuke pouted for a moment.

“Fine, fine, I don’s suppose I don’t mind being the butt of the joke,” He declared with a huff. “but only for you, partner.”

“Thanks,” he replied with a smile. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

He though he saw something light up in Yosuke’s eyes, but it vanished before he could confirm. A part of his gut twisted, that’s right, they were only just good friends; ‘partners in crime’ Yosuke had put it. And that was all they’d ever be, there was no way the other would be interested in anything more.

“Anyway, I gotta’ get back to work, I’m still officially on the clock, but I wanted to come see you.” His friend explained. “The others ’ll be here soon, and I promise to weasel my break in before everyone leaves.” He winked at him, and then ran off.

Yuu sat down on the bench and began playing with Usagi to keep her occupied. He was lost in thought when a pair of hands, warm yet cool at the same time, closed over his eyes. “Guess who~” A voice purred in his ear. Opening his mouth to give an answer, Chie’s voice, thick with annoyance cut him off. “Let go of him Rise, stuff like that isn’t as coy and cute as you think it is.”

Rise’s hands lingered a moment over his eyes, then, begrudgingly, came off. Chie huffed and sat down, next to her, Yukiko giggled softly over something she apparently found funny. Chie blushed, glared at the manager-in-training, but didn’t say anything. Kanji quietly slid into a spot on one side of him, Rise on the other. He had to gently swat Usagi’s grabby hands away from Rise to keep her from tugging and potentially trying to chew on her wavy mahogany locks. 

Kanji shyly reached out a finger to the young child, casting a questioning eye at Yuu, silently asking for permission. He gave the younger boy a warm smile and nodded. Kanji didn’t need to ask permission, not when the baby in question was still in his arms and he trusted all of them. Brightening, Kanji offered the finger to Usagi, who surprised the bleached haired boy with her impressive grip and began tugging at the digit. One finger quickly turned into a while hand as Usagi took delight in her new play thing.

“Hmm, she’s much different now than she was before.” Naoto’s familiar voice commented.

Nearing the table, Naoto and Kuma arrived with an arm full of drinks for them all. Naoto passed him a flavored water drink, the only one of the bunch- the rest being carbonated drinks. He accepted the drink with a polite thank you; he tried to avoided carbonation and caffeine the best he could, to keep it out of Usagi’s food. 

“Yes, she’s so sleepy most of the time; she’s almost like a different person when she’s awake.” He replied with a wry smile. “but unsurprising, considering how much she eats.”

“That’s right, on the car ride home you said Usagi-chan has quite the glu- glu-“ Kuma tried a few time to remember the word. “Glootanus appetite.”

“It was gluttonous, but close.” Yuu corrected. Kuma beamed.

“Wow, that sounds almost like Chie senpai.” Rise said.

“What the- hey! Take that back!” Chie snarled. Rise only smirked.

“Meh, babies need to eat a lot ‘cause they use up so much energy growing.” Kanji replied. “My Ma’ explained it too me.”

“Well, I’d rather her eat a lot, even if it means her demanding food so often, than her not getting enough to eat.” Yuu murmured, recalling how small and frail she’d been in his arms the very first time. The nurse had been hesitant to giver her to him.  
“Was there some complication with her birth?” Naoto asked, chin tucked under a wrist.

Yuu sighed, not because of his friends, but because of the memory. “Usagi had been just barely 5 pounds at birth, she’d been so tiny and frail looks the doctors were worried about potential health complications.” He explained. “There’s still some worry about how much she’s been dozing, but the doctors concluded it wasn’t a risk to her health.”

Everyone was quiet, sans Usagi and her happy gurgling as she tugged and twisted Kanji’s hand about.

“…Oh,” Rise murmured.

“That… sounds complicated.” Yukiko agreed.

“Well, it probably isn’t that surprising, all things considered.” He replied wistfully.

The pregnancy hadn’t been an easy one. His diet and exercise might have been well rounded and as on rail as the doctor wanted, but between the arguing, verbal harassment, and even a few instances of bullying, his mental health hadn’t been good, and that in turn had affected his body’s health, and the pregnancy.

“…Right,” Naoto said quietly. “The people around you probably didn’t take well to it.”

A heavy air settled around them, like a fog. Yuu hadn’t meant for things to take such a dark turn, but it couldn’t be helped with how dark and touchy the subject was.

“Yo, why the long faces?” Yosuke called, cutting through the gloom. “You all look like someone died, of that king moron returned from the dead in a wedding dress.”

Chie’s face blanched, as though she had thought about that line of imagining.

“What the hell Yosuke?!” She cried, burying her face in her hands.

“What? I’m just saying everyone looked really gloomy!” he shot back.

Yukiko proceeded to break out into one of her laughing fits, snorting and giggling as she clutched at her stomach. Usagi gaggled along with the ebonette.

“Alright, what I miss?” Yosuke asked, sitting down.

“Nothing really.” Yuu replied casually.

“Huh, but weren’t we just-“

“It was nothing, I think we’ve had enough doom and gloom for the moment.”

Kanji respectfully gave into Yuu’s insistence. The silvernette didn’t want to think about that right now.

“So then, how has everyone been doing?”


	8. Chapter 8

The video game was no longer interesting, but Yosuke hadn’t chosen it because it was. He wanted something to do to keep his mind off of other thoughts. Like the pain in his chest that came every time he thought about Yuu and his daughter. Why was the though of his best friend getting intimate with another person causing him such distress? It was inevitable that his partner would start thinking about those kinds of relationships- heck he’d spent the first week of his third year thinking about ‘em! Maybe it was the sorrowed look the silvernette sometimes wore when he was thinking about things.

Yeah, that was it. He was upset because someone clearly broke his friend’s heart! It took two to make a baby (despite the eccentric teachers of Yasogami, they somehow managed to teach their students actual things they needed to know), and Yuu had come back to Inaba with just Usagi. Obviously what had happened was the mom had dumped Usagi on him and left, leaving him to suffer the social rejection of being a teen single parent. Well no matter, he was there to support his dear partner! They all were.

Yosuke ignored the nagging in the back of his mind saying there was more to this, choosing to focus solely on the video game in front of him until Mom called him down for dinner. Kuma was at his house for once, probably giving the Dojimas some family time with Yuu. The blond boy was on the floor with him, face pressed into a manga book while laying on his back, different from Yosuke who was sitting cross legged on the floor. It was odd for Kuma to be so quiet; normally he was humming to himself as he read, but now he was totally quiet. 

He debated if he should bring it up or not, then shrugged, deciding not to. He’d heard from the others what they’d been talking about before he’d acted as an ice breaker. It was some heavy stuff, not normally something talked about around the not-human. Kuma was still pretty new to a lot of human related things, so to hear that his beloved ‘sensei’ had potentially been ostracized for having a kid, and that said kid had almost been born with serious health complications. 

“Yosuke, Kuma!” He heard his mom’s sharp voice call from below. “Dinner’s ready!”

He was at a decent stopping point, so opted to save the game and turn the console off instead of just pausing. Maybe he’d play a different game after dinner, or do some studying. He was almost out the doorway when he noticed Kuma was still on the floor, eyes on the manga.

“Hey, mom called, dinner’s ready.” He said.

“Oh? Sorry, I didn’t hear.” The blond replied quietly. “I’ll be right there.”

Nodding, Yosuke made his way to the stairs and descended them two at a time. It was a bit odd that he hadn’t heard his mom calling; normally his roommate beat him to the dinner table. He arrived first; his dad already seated, and took his own seat. His mom was still bringing everything to the table. Kuma arrived just as his mom was sitting down, eyes on the floor and face blank. Guess he was still thinking about this afternoon. His parents both looked at Kuma with concern, but didn’t bring it up in favor of eating dinner.

It was about half way through the meal, and Kuma had been eating light. Normally he was eating larger portions and hogging all the stuff he liked. It left dinner in an almost eerie silence had his parents struggled for small talk. Kuma was normally the instigator of much of the dinner time talk.

“Hmm, that reminds me, Yosuke, a few of the Junes employees said they either saw, or heard from someone else that your fried Narukami was shopping in the produce department with a baby earlier today.” His dad said, an attempt at breaking the quiet.

It was a small town, so no doubt everyone and their dog already knew Yuu was back, and with a baby. Might as well give his parents the run down. Who knows, it might end with them giving him and Kuma some good advice.

“Yeah, Yuu’s back in Inaba, as that kid they saw him with it his baby daughter, Usagi.” He explained. “He’ll be spending the winter here.”

“A baby? At his age,” His mom gasped slightly. “No one his parents sent him back, I heard from Detective Dojima that he was attending a pretty prestigious high school over in the city, that had to have created a very, difficult environment.”

That’s right, he’d forgotten that Yuu had been attending a well renowned school back in the city.

“Hey, what’s a normal birth weight for a baby?” Kuma asked suddenly.

“Hu? About 8 pounds or so,” He mom replied. 

“Oh, so then Usagi-chan as 3 pounds lighter than what is considered normal.” The blond murmured.

His parents looked to him for an explanation. Yosuke sighed.

“Everyone was hanging out in the food court earlier, I was working at the time so I wasn’t there, and one of the topics that came up was about Usagi-chan’s health. Apparently she’d just barely been 5 pounds at birth, and the doctors had been worried about health problems.” He informed his parents.

“Oh dear, is she still at risk?”

“Nah, Yuu said she’d a glutton and is always asking to be fed, I’ve seen her myself and can say she isn’t that tiny. She’s tired a lot, but the doctors have said there’s nothing wrong with her.”

“That’s good, it’s always stressful when any child is born with health risks, we were fortunate that you were born just fine.”

“Speaking of which, Narukami-kun came alone right? Hoe old is Usagi-chan?”

“About 8 weeks, she was one right at the end of October.” Kuma answered.

“So young, and without a mother,” his mom commented. “I’ve heard that children fed on formula before this first 6 months of life tend to have more health complications than children who are fed formula after 6 months, but if the mother’s absent, there isn’t much to be done.”

“Usagi-chan’s fine, after al sensei’s-“ Kuma paused, thinking about his words. “She’s fine; the doctor recommended a brand of formula.”

Yosuke had noticed the way Kuma had hesitated, and thought about his choice of words. It was almost as if he was going to say something else, but decided not to. Did the bear know something about Yuu’s situation?

“Chie, are you free this Sunday?” Yukiko asked, inspecting carrots.

“Hu? Yeah, like always.” She answered with a shrug.

“Good, because my parents approved of use using a few rooms at the inn this Sunday.” The long haired girl replied.

Chie almost squealed in delight. “Really? That’s awesome!”

“Yes, and apparently they already heard about Yuu’s situation. They said the hot springs might be a little much for an infant her age, but that the bathing room should be fine. It might not have the same view, but we keep the bath water just as hot.”

“It’s a shame she won’t be able to enjoy the springs, but at least Yuu can. All we need to do is keep an eye on her when it’s the guys turn.”

“Yes. It was also nice that my parents were so understanding. Not everyone takes well to teen parents, single or not.”

“Yeah, I think our leader hinted to that effect.”

“Well, I’ll tell everyone the good knew tomorrow after school and text Yuu so he and Nanako-chan can prepare.”

“That’s right; Nanako-chan did say last year that she wanted to do that again. She’ll be really happy.”

Chie and Yukiko shared a smile.

“You know, when I brought up Usagi’s age, the head chief jokily offered to make a few dishes that were good for breast feeding mothers.”

“Really? Maybe you should take him up on that offer, I’m sure everyone ‘ll find it funny.”

“Oh? I already did. Sense he’s a single parent, he’s both Usagi-chan’s mother and father.”

As the words left her mouth, Yukiko began giggling. Chie winced, rolling her eyes at her best friend’s strange humor.


End file.
